Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, November 27, 2024

825 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction report →

heavy 2-weight M&L 1 heifers $480.00/cwt ≈ $1,358/hd at 283 lb · 30 head

heavy 2-weight M&L 1 steers $500.00/cwt ≈ $1,365/hd at 273 lb · 23 head

light 3-weight M&L 1 steers $450.00/cwt +10.00 vs last sale · ≈ $1,418/hd at 315 lb · 17 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	825	2,271	1,798
Feeder cattle	351	579	345
Slaughter cattle	273	1,007	1,120
Replacement cattle	201	685	333

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: All feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Quality was mostly plain to average today. Most feeders were offered in small packages or as singles. Demand for limited feeders was good to very good. Market activity was mostly moderate to active today. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for light offerings. Buyers pushed to fill loads started earlier in the week. Cow quality this sale was mostly average. Slaughter cow demand was strong early in the sale but moderated slightly as buyers filled loads. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher on all classes. Feeding cow demand was very good as several buyers pushed to fill loads this sale. Feeding cows sold mostly 2.00-3.00 higher on high quality cows suitable to feed to premium white. Short term, thin feeding cows sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher. Very good demand was seen for this class of cows this sale. Weigh conditions were mostly average to below average today. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady. Demand for slaughter bulls was light to moderate. Several private buyers purchased bulls to feed this sale as several small packages of high quality bulls were seen. Quality today was mostly average to attractive for bulls. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher. Demand from rebreed buyers remains good to very good, especially for light weight offerings. Quality this week was average to attractive.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
273	273	23	500.00	$500.00	$1,365	—
315	315	17	450.00	$450.00	$1,418	—
445 unweaned	445	11	379.00	$379.00	$1,687	+0.59

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
298	298	2	450.00	$450.00	$1,341	—
418 unweaned	418	2	365.00	$365.00	$1,526	+7.50
452 unweaned	452	5	340.00	$340.00	$1,537	—
523 unweaned	523	3	329.00	$329.00	$1,721	—
639 unweaned	639	7	284.00	$284.00	$1,815	—
663 unweaned	663	2	261.00	$261.00	$1,730	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
398 unweaned	398	2	330.00	$330.00	$1,313	—
515 unweaned	515	1	290.00	$290.00	$1,494	—
553 unweaned	553	5	282.50	$282.50	$1,562	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
283	283	30	480.00	$480.00	$1,358	—
340	340	2	432.50	$432.50	$1,470	—
461 unweaned	461	8	319.00	$319.00	$1,471	+15.00
589	589	7	267.00	$267.00	$1,573	+32.00
605–641 unweaned	636	7	262.00–270.00	$263.09	$1,673	+17.52
849	849	4	233.00	$233.00	$1,978	+3.00
920	920	7	229.50	$229.50	$2,111	+14.50

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
338 unweaned	338	3	425.00	$425.00	$1,436	+90.85
428	428	8	290.00	$290.00	$1,241	—
560–587 unweaned	576	5	265.00–266.00	$265.61	$1,530	—
741	741	14	239.00	$239.00	$1,771	+3.00
770	770	2	232.50	$232.50	$1,790	+2.50
1018	1018	9	202.00	$202.00	$2,056	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1053–1074	1069	13	200.00–202.00	$201.55	$2,155	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
488 unweaned	488	3	280.00	$280.00	$1,366	—
545 unweaned	545	5	265.00	$265.00	$1,444	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
447 unweaned	447	6	331.00	$331.00	$1,480	—
474	474	4	342.50	$342.50	$1,623	—
520 unweaned	520	1	311.00	$311.00	$1,617	-5.07

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
614	614	5	240.00	$240.00	$1,474	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1300	1300	4	175.00	$175.00	$2,275	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
497 unweaned	497	3	295.00	$295.00	$1,466	—
720 unweaned	720	1	225.00	$225.00	$1,620	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1315–1360	1338	80-85%	2	102.00–106.00	$104.03	$1,392	+14.03
1312–1420	1342	80-85%	26	123.00–125.50	$124.92	$1,676	+34.92
1355	1355	80-85%	1	94.00	$94.00	$1,274	-23.08
1365–1395	1371	80-85%	9	88.00–90.00	$89.00	$1,220	-28.08
1255–1675	1423	80-85%	54	113.00–123.00	$118.88	$1,692	+14.17
1263–1690	1426	80-85%	12	101.00–111.00	$105.12	$1,499	+0.41
1523	1523	80-85%	2	121.00	$121.00	$1,843	+30.65

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
800–980	902	85-90%	3	67.50–75.00	$70.22	$633	-31.34
950–965	958	85-90%	2	99.00–101.00	$99.99	$958	+37.49
1065–1230	1128	85-90%	6	123.00–124.50	$123.55	$1,394	+45.70
1140	1140	85-90%	1	105.00	$105.00	$1,197	+7.58
995–1264	1156	85-90%	19	75.00–87.50	$83.04	$960	-16.94
960–1288	1159	85-90%	14	97.00–110.00	$105.75	$1,226	+5.77
1070–1275	1182	85-90%	11	86.00–100.00	$90.85	$1,074	-9.13
950–1285	1207	85-90%	44	112.50–122.50	$119.30	$1,440	+34.17

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1443–1640	1482	75-80%	5	117.00–120.50	$119.73	$1,774	—
1565–1718	1630	75-80%	14	118.00–122.50	$120.05	$1,957	—
1510–1945	1729	75-80%	6	110.00–116.00	$111.94	$1,935	—
1770	1770	75-80%	1	134.25	$134.25	$2,376	+22.62

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1220–1335	1305	4	130.00–134.00	$131.60	$1,717	—
1300–1450	1376	4	140.00–144.00	$142.70	$1,964	—
1450–2200	1683	9	120.00–135.00	$127.69	$2,149	+2.69
1540–2095	1819	7	139.50–142.50	$140.33	$2,553	-0.21

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
2058	2058	2	136.00	$136.00	$2,799	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
720–1177	915	(<2 yrs)	Open	96	153.00–225.00	$200.14	$1,831
855–1420	1126	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	31	121.00–176.00	$136.37	$1,536
1364	1364	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	170.00	$170.00	$2,319

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
835 thin fleshed	835	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	135.00	$135.00	$1,127
848–1180	955	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	127.50–172.50	$150.42	$1,437
865–1275	1020	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	11	122.50–140.00	$129.69	$1,323

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
665	665	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	197.50	$197.50	$1,313

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1193	1193	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	2,275.00	$2,275.00
1205	1205	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	2,275.00	$2,275.00
1247	1247	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	5	2,300.00	$2,300.00
1478	1478	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	5	1,850.00	$1,850.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
970–1135	1053	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	2	2,125.00–2,150.00	$2,138.48
1070	1070	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,750.00	$1,750.00
1330	1330	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	2	2,000.00	$2,000.00
1415	1415	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	1	2,000.00	$2,000.00

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
885	885	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,900.00	$1,900.00
903	903	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,950.00	$1,950.00

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Reading this report

What does "Medium and Large 1" mean?

USDA feeder grades describe frame size and muscle thickness, not quality of the individual animal. "Medium and Large" is the frame score; the number is muscle (1 = heaviest muscled). "Medium and Large 1–2" pens mix both muscle scores — common across the Southeast.

What is $/cwt?

Dollars per hundredweight — per 100 lb of animal. A 500-lb calf at $450/cwt brings 5 × $450 = $2,250. Lighter cattle usually bring more per cwt but less per head.

Why are some prices per head?

Bred cows, cow-calf pairs, and some replacement classes sell by the head, not by weight. We show those exactly as USDA reports them — a $/head figure is never converted into $/cwt on this site.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service's Livestock Market News — federal reporters at the sale. We publish each report in full and link the official USDA document at the top of the page.